A series on a classic mussar sefer
This collection is a shiur series on the Pele Yoetz, one of the most beloved works of Jewish ethical guidance, written by Rabbi Eliezer Papo zt"l (1785-1828). It is not, as its title might suggest, a living speaker delivering original lectures; it is a set of classes teaching a classic sefer. Rabbi Papo served as a rav in Silistra, in what is today Bulgaria, and composed the Pele Yoetz as a practical guide to living a refined Jewish life.
What sets the Pele Yoetz apart is its arrangement. Instead of following the Torah or the calendar, it is organized alphabetically by topic — trait after trait, subject after subject — so that a person can turn directly to the matter they need, whether it is anger, honesty, joy, or the way one speaks to others. A series built on it inherits that structure, moving through middos and everyday conduct one entry at a time.
Mussar you can actually use
The genius of the Pele Yoetz is that it never stays abstract. Rabbi Papo wrote for ordinary Jews trying to do the right thing, and his counsel is warm, direct, and immediately applicable — how to guard one's speech, how to treat a spouse and children, how to approach tefillah with feeling. Learning it through a guided series brings those ideas off the page, with a maggid shiur unpacking each topic and showing how it lands in daily life.
For a family, that combination — timeless mussar in short, self-contained units — is unusually workable. A single entry can be learned in one sitting and carried into the week, and because the sefer touches nearly every corner of character and conduct, there is always a relevant place to open. The series preserves the author's original aim: not scholarship for its own sake, but becoming a better, kinder, more G-d-conscious Jew.
Why this sefer has endured
Two centuries after Rabbi Papo wrote it, the Pele Yoetz remains in print and in daily use, and that longevity is itself a kind of testimony. Countless mussar works have been written; relatively few become companions that ordinary Jews return to year after year. The Pele Yoetz earned that place by being honest about human weakness and gentle in its correction, meeting the reader as a struggling friend rather than a stern judge.
A series that teaches it inherits that tone. Rather than lecturing, it opens the sefer's counsel and lets the reader recognize themselves in it — the impatience, the missed kindness, the good intention left undone. That recognition is what makes mussar work. For a family, learning even a few entries builds the habit of turning a critical eye inward with warmth, which is exactly the disposition the Pele Yoetz was written to cultivate.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
FilteredTube is a kosher video service built for Jewish families — every single video is approved against one written standard before it can appear, with no open feed, no comments, and no surprises. It is a calm, safe place to look for the Torah and Jewish music you love.
If your family enjoys the Pele Yoetz, search FilteredTube for the speakers and topics that matter most to you. With a daf yomi shelf, a weekly parsha shelf, topic shelves, audio-only listening for the car, and a kids mode with a PIN, kosher Jewish video is easy to reach — and the approved catalog keeps growing every day.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- The Pele Yoetz is a classic mussar sefer by Rabbi Eliezer Papo zt"l (1785-1828), rav of Silistra.
- This collection is a shiur series teaching that sefer, not lectures by a living speaker.
- The sefer is arranged alphabetically by topic, covering middos and everyday Jewish conduct.
- Its guidance is practical and self-contained, making it well suited to short, regular family learning.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.